Sanderson's first novel, Elantris, was published by Tor Books on April 21, 2005, to generally positive reviews.[12][13] This was followed in 2006 by The Final Empire, the first book in his Mistborn fantasy trilogy, where "allomancers" — people who have the ability to ‘burn’ various metals and alloys after ingesting them — can enhance senses and allow control over powerful supernatural forces. He followed up in 2007 with a sequel, The Well of Ascension.

After Robert Jordan’s death in September 2007, Sanderson was selected by Jordon's widow, Harriet McDougal, to complete the final book in Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. McDougal asked him to finish the series after she was deeply impressed by his first Mistborn novel.[14]Tor Books made the announcement on December 7, 2007.[15] After reviewing what was necessary to complete the series, Sanderson and Tor announced on March 30, 2009, that a final three books would be published instead of just one. The first of these, The Gathering Storm, was published on October 27, 2009, and reached the number-one spot on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.[16][17]

"An author's ability to solve conflict satisfactorily with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic."[25]

While originally created as a rule for magic systems in fantasy novels, Sanderson has specified that this law need not apply just to fantasy, but is also applicable to science fiction. This Law was originally defined in Sanderson's online essay "Sanderson's First Law".[25] In the essay he qualifies the two extremes1 of design as being:

Hard Magic

Magic/technology has well defined rules that the audience understands. As a result, one can use this to solve conflict more easily as the capabilities are cleanly defined. Sanderson classifies this as "Hard Magic". C.L. Wilson in her essay Worldbuilding 101 - Making Magic[26] advocated this method of creation, stating, "...create your rules, then follow them."

Soft Magic

Magic/technology has unclear or vague rules, or none at all. This allows for a greater sense of wonder to be attained for the reader, but the ability to solve problems without resorting to deus ex machina decreases. Sanderson classifies this as "Soft Magic". Lawrence Watt-Evans specifically advised "The trick is to be a benevolent and consistent deity, not one who pulls miracles out of a hat as needed."[27]

Or in other words, a character's weaknesses are more interesting than his or her abilities. It was initially set down in Episode 14 of the podcast Writing Excuses.[28]2

John Brown, likewise looked to Sanderson's work in his own essay involving magic systems, noting "What are the ramifications and conflicts of using it?"[29]Patricia Wrede likewise noted several issues on this topic ranging from magic suppressing other technologies, to how a magic might affect farming.[30][31]

In explaining the second law, Sanderson references the magic system of Superman, claiming that Superman's powers are not what make him interesting, but his limits, specifically his vulnerability to kryptonite and the code of ethics he received from his parents.

The Third Law implies that the writer should go deeper with worldbuilding before going wider.

Sanderson points out that magic does not take place in a vacuum, a good magic system should be interconnected with the world around it. It is related to the ecology, religion, economics, warfare, and politics of the world it inhabits. The job of the author is to think further than the reader about the ramifications of the magic system. If magic can turn mud into diamonds, that has an effect on the value of diamonds. Sanderson states that readers of genre fiction are interested not just in the magic system but how the world and characters will be different because of the magic.[33]

The Cosmere is the name of the universe in which the majority of Sanderson's books exist. This idea came from his desire to create an epic length series without requiring readers to buy a ridiculous amount of books. Because of that he hides connections to his other works within each book, creating this "hidden epic". In the end the Cosmere Cycle will include between 32-36 books.[34]

The story of the Cosmere is about a mysterious being called Adonalsium, who existed on a world known as Yolen. Something made Adonalsium shatter into sixteen different Shards, of which each bears immense power. The sixteen people who took these Shards created new worlds, populating them with people and different types of magic. However, each Shard has an Intent, such as Ruin or Honor, and they became molded to it. A man named Hoid travels these so-called Shardworlds, interfering with the people of those worlds when they become heroes and come in contact with the Shards.[35]

The books below are the final books of the Wheel of Time series originally written by Robert Jordan, who died before being able to finish his series. Sanderson was chosen by the widow (who was also the editor) of the original author to finish the series according to the notes left behind by her husband. Sanderson has the same publisher for most of his works (Tor) as the Wheel of Time series.[52]

White Sand is set in the Cosmere, and is set on a world where there are Daysiders and Darksiders who each have special abilities related to where they live. The artist and writer for the series have not yet been announced. The works will be based off an original manuscript by Sanderson.[54]